Vehicular parking system

ABSTRACT

A vehicular parking system includes vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system disposed at a first vehicle. The vehicular parking system, as the first vehicle navigates a parking facility in search of an available parking space, receives a parking space availability communication via the V2V communication system. The parking space availability communication originates from a second vehicle that is also navigating the parking facility. The parking space availability communication indicates multiple available parking spaces within the parking facility and the multiple available parking spaces are determined by the second vehicle as the second vehicle navigates the parking facility and passes available parking spaces. The vehicular parking system, responsive to receiving the parking space availability communication, reserves one of the multiple available parking spaces of the parking space availability communication for the first vehicle.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/356,003, filed Mar. 18, 2019, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/878,727, filed Jan. 24, 2018, nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,235,581, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/519,469, filed Oct. 21, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No.9,881,220, which claims the filing benefits of U.S. provisionalapplications, Ser. No. 62/001,795, filed May 22, 2014, Ser. No.61/947,053, filed Mar. 3, 2014, and Ser. No. 61/895,610, filed Oct. 25,2013, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a vehicle vision system for avehicle and, more particularly, to a vehicle vision system that utilizesone or more cameras at a vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Use of imaging sensors in vehicle imaging systems is common and known.Examples of such known systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,949,331; 5,670,935 and/or 5,550,677, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a collision avoidance system or visionsystem or imaging system for a vehicle that utilizes one or more cameras(preferably one or more CMOS cameras) to capture image datarepresentative of images exterior of the vehicle, and provides anadaptive traffic light response system that determines the status of atraffic light ahead of the vehicle and, responsive to the determinedstatus and vehicle or driver parameters, generates an alert to thedriver (such as when the determined vehicle status or parametersindicate that the driver is not responding properly to the presenttraffic light signal or condition).

According to an aspect of the present invention, a vision system of avehicle includes a camera disposed at a vehicle and having a field ofview forwardly of the vehicle, and a control comprising an imageprocessor. The image processor is operable to process image datacaptured by the camera. The control is operable to receive wirelesscommunication (such as from a V2I (vehicle to infrastructure)communication system or the like) that is associated with a trafficlight ahead of the vehicle. The wireless communication comprises acommunicated status of the traffic light ahead of the vehicle. The imageprocessor, responsive to processing of captured image data, is operableto determine an imaged status of the traffic light ahead of the vehicleand in the field of view of the camera. The control compares the imagedstatus with the communicated status and, when the communicated statuscorresponds to the imaged status, determines or confirms the status ofthe traffic light ahead of the vehicle. Responsive to a determinationthat the driver of the vehicle is not properly responding to thedetermined traffic light status, the system is operable to at least oneof (i) generate an alert to the driver of the vehicle and (ii) apply thebrakes of the vehicle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a parking assistsystem for assisting a driver of a vehicle in finding and reserving anavailable parking slot or space of a parking lot or area includes acommunication system operable to communicate information regardingparking slot availability to a receiver of a vehicle. The parking assistsystem at least one of (i) determines an available parking slotresponsive to a received signal indicative of an available parking slotand (ii) determines an available parking slot responsive to imageprocessing of image data captured by at least one camera. Responsive todetermination of an available parking slot, the communication systemtransmits a signal indicative of the available parking slot. Responsiveto receipt of the transmitted signal, a driver of the vehicle canreserve the available slot via actuation by the driver of a user input.Responsive to receipt of a reservation signal from the vehicle, thecommunication system transmits an updated signal to indicate that theparking slot is reserved.

The system may determine an available parking slot responsive to areceived signal indicative of an available parking slot, and thereceived signal may be received from another vehicle at the parking lot.The communication system may determine an available parking slot viaimage processing of image data captured by at least one camera at theparking lot. The system may comprise a plurality of cameras arranged atthe parking lot, wherein the communication system determines availableparking slots via image processing of image data captured by thecameras.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle with a vision system thatincorporates cameras in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of the traffic light response system of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic of a vehicle at an intersection and equipped withthe adaptive traffic light response system of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is another schematic of a vehicle at an intersection and equippedwith the adaptive traffic light response system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic of use of a parking slot finding system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic of use of another parking slot finding system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic of a vehicle vision and communication system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic of use of the vehicle vision and communicationsystem of FIG. 7 ;

FIG. 9 is a schematic of a vehicle at an intersection and equipped witha communication system of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic of the communication system of the vehicle ofFIG. 9 .

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A vehicle vision system and/or driver assist system and/or objectdetection system and/or alert system operates to capture images exteriorof the vehicle and may process the captured image data to display imagesand to detect objects at or near the vehicle and in the predicted pathof the vehicle, such as to assist a driver of the vehicle in maneuveringthe vehicle in a rearward direction. The vision system includes an imageprocessor or image processing system that is operable to receive imagedata from one or more cameras and provide an output to a display devicefor displaying images representative of the captured image data.Optionally, the vision system may provide a top down or bird's eye orsurround view display and may provide a displayed image that isrepresentative of the subject vehicle, and optionally with the displayedimage being customized to at least partially correspond to the actualsubject vehicle.

Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depictedtherein, a vehicle 10 includes an imaging system or vision system 12that includes at least one exterior facing imaging sensor or camera,such as a rearward facing imaging sensor or camera 14 a (and the systemmay optionally include multiple exterior facing imaging sensors orcameras, such as a forwardly facing camera 14 b at the front (or at thewindshield and behind the windshield and viewing through the windshield)of the vehicle, and a sidewardly/rearwardly facing camera 14 c, 14 d atrespective sides of the vehicle), which captures images exterior of thevehicle, with the camera having a lens for focusing images at or onto animaging array or imaging plane or imager of the camera (FIG. 1 ). Thevision system 12 includes a control or electronic control unit (ECU) orprocessor 18 that is operable to process image data captured by thecameras and may provide displayed images at a display device 16 forviewing by the driver of the vehicle (although shown in FIG. 1 as beingpart of or incorporated in or at an interior rearview mirror assembly 20of the vehicle, the control and/or the display device may be disposedelsewhere at or in the vehicle). The data transfer or signalcommunication from the camera to the ECU may comprise any suitable dataor communication link, such as a vehicle network bus or the like of theequipped vehicle.

Many major accidents occur due to driver mistake of not following thetraffic lights. The system of the present invention determines, such asvia image processing of image data captured by a forward facing orviewing camera of the vehicle, a traffic light status and, responsive toa determination (such as via processing of vehicle status) that thedriver is not properly responding to the traffic light or signal,generates an alert to the driver.

For example, and with reference to FIG. 2 , the subject vehicle isequipped with a front imager operable to capture image data and an imageprocessor that processes captured image data (via an image processingalgorithm) and determines a traffic light status of a traffic lightahead of the vehicle and in the field of view of the imager. Theadaptive traffic light response (ATLR) system (such as an algorithmrunning in the ECU of the vehicle) monitors the vehicle status (such asbrake status, accelerator status, vehicle speed, and/or the like) andthe driver response, and is operable to alert the driver if he or she ismaking a mistake. Optionally, if a determined time to collision (TTC)exceeds a threshold level, the system may apply the vehicle brakes tolimit or avoid or mitigate the collision.

Optionally, if the traffic lights are equipped with a V2I(vehicle-to-infrastructure) communication module or the like, thetraffic light may broadcast the traffic light status. This informationmay be received by the V2I communication module of the vehicle and thus,even in poor visibility conditions, the system can receive and processand use the traffic light information. The V2I information may be fusedwith the camera data to achieve enhanced reliability of the system.

Optionally, when the vehicle is equipped with a GPS system and GPS datamaps, the adaptive traffic light response system may use the trafficlight location information to fuse with the camera traffic lightinformation to achieve enhanced performance. For example, if the GPScommunication does not indicate that there is a traffic light ahead ofthe vehicle and there is no communication from a V2I communicationmodule ahead of the vehicle, then the control may ignore (or weigh less)a determination of a traffic light condition as determined via imageprocessing of image data captured by the forward facing camera.

The two or three different signals or determinations can be weighteddifferently depending on the driving conditions and region. For example,on a clear day when the image processor determines that a traffic lightis ahead of the vehicle and is a red light, the system may generate analert to the driver if the driver does not respond accordingly, even ifthere is no communication from a V2I communication module. Likewise, inpoor visibility conditions, the system may respond primarily to the V2Icommunication module.

Thus, the control of the vision system may be responsive to acommunicated traffic light status and a determined or imaged trafficlight status, and may determine the traffic light status and generate analert accordingly. If the two signals indicate the same traffic lightstatus (for example, both indicate that the traffic light is green),then the system determines or confirms the traffic light status andgenerates an alert and/or applies the vehicle brakes accordingly. Whenthe signals contradict (such as, for example, when the communication orcommunicated status indicates a green light and the image processor orimaged status indicates a red light), the system may generate an alertto the driver of the vehicle, but may not apply the brakes of thevehicle. This decision may also be dependent on visibility conditions,such that the control applies a greater weight or consideration to theV2I communicated traffic light status in poor visibility conditions orthe like (such as fog or rain or snow conditions, such as may bedetermined via image processing of captured image data). Optionally, thecontrol may generate an alert to the driver responsive to the imagedstatus being different than the communicated status. Responsive to thedetermination or confirmation of the traffic light status, the controlmay generate an alert and/or apply the vehicle brakes or may otherwisecontrol a vehicle function.

For example, and such as shown in FIG. 3 , when the subject vehicle(equipped with the adaptive traffic light response system of the presentinvention) approaches an intersection with a red light and a vehicle inthe right lane starts to make a right turn on red, the driver of thesubject vehicle may be distracted by the moving vehicle at the right ofthe subject vehicle and may start moving the subject vehicle forward(incorrectly assuming that the traffic light has changed to green). Thesubject vehicle may be equipped with a collision mitigation brakingsystem and the adaptive traffic light response system monitors thetraffic light status and may (responsive to a determination that thetraffic light is red) generate an alert to the driver and/or mayautomatically apply the brakes of the subject vehicle to prevent thedriver from moving the vehicle forwardly into the intersection until thetraffic light changes to green. The control may determine that thetraffic light status is red via image processing and/or a V2Icommunication (which may also indicate if a green right turn arrow wasalso activated when the subject vehicle started moving forward).

As shown in FIG. 4 , when the subject vehicle approaches an intersectionwith a red light, the driver of the subject vehicle may be distractedand may not slow down or stop. The subject vehicle may be equipped witha collision mitigation braking system and the adaptive traffic lightresponse system monitors the traffic light status and may (responsive toa determination that the traffic light is red) generate an alert to thedriver before the vehicle approaches and enters the intersection. If thedriver does not respond to the alert by applying the brakes, the systemmay automatically apply the brakes of the subject vehicle to prevent thedriver from moving the vehicle forwardly into the intersection while thetraffic light is determined to be red.

Thus, the subject or host vehicle is equipped with a front imager offorward viewing camera and an image processing algorithm that processescaptured image data and determines the traffic light status. The ATLRalgorithm running in the ECU will monitor the vehicle status and thedriver response and alert the driver if he/she is making a mistake, andif the TTC exceeds a threshold level, the system will apply brake tolimit or prevent or mitigate the collision. Optionally, if trafficlights are equipped with a V2I communication module, then the trafficlight will broadcast the present status of the traffic light. Thisinformation may be received by the V2I communication module of thevehicle, and this information may be used to fuse with the cameracaptured image data to achieve higher reliability in poor visibility orpoor weather conditions. When the vehicle is equipped with GPS data map,the ATLR module may use the traffic light location information to fusewith the camera traffic light information to achieve enhanced systemperformance. The present invention thus provides a system that mayenhance an existing CMB system or feature and/or may be used in anautonomous vehicle.

Optionally, the vehicle may include a cooperative v2v-based(vehicle-to-vehicle-based) parking solution or system. Often, a driverof a vehicle, when trying to find a parking slot, may have difficultieswith large parking lots as the user may need to keep driving in manyrows to find a free parking slot. For example, and with reference toFIG. 5 , the subject vehicle and other vehicles at a parking lot may beequipped with a v2v communication link. When the driver of the subjectvehicle is looking for an open parking slot, the subject vehicle willreceive the information of all the available free slots at that parkinglot via the v2v communication link.

Upon receipt of a communication (such as via a Designated Short RangeCommunication (DSRC) radio or v2v communication or the like) indicativeof an available empty parking slot, the driver of the vehicle willselect the nearest open slot and reserve the slot, with the reservationprotocol preferably being cooperatively accomplished. For example, ifthere are multiple users that want to reserve an open slot at a sametime, then no one will get the open slot reserved. The users maycontinue to transmit the reserve request after a random time intervaland one of the users may eventually reserve the open slot. If no otherusers are looking to reserve the slot, then the user who first reservesthe slot will get the slot reserved and may broadcast or transmit acommunication indicative of the slot being reserved.

The determination of an open slot may be made via another vehicleleaving a parking slot (and transmitting the location information atthat time) or via parked vehicles communicating information about anopen parking slot at or near the parked vehicle or via a communicationfrom another vehicle moving through the parking lot and determining oneor more empty slots as it moves through the parking lot. For example,and as shown in FIG. 5 , when a previously parked vehicle is starting toleave its parking slot, that vehicle's communication system (such as viaa DSRC radio or v2x (vehicle-to-infrastructure) link or the like) willstart transmitting the location information about the parking slot thatis being vacated and that is going to be open or available. Also, suchas also shown in FIG. 5 , other vehicles that are looking for an openparking slot may determine open slots and may broadcast or transmit acommunication regarding open slot information when the vehicle's systemfinds another open slot (such as by using a camera or vision system oran ultrasonic sensor system or the like) as that vehicle is drivingthrough the parking lot. The vehicles looking for a parking slot,responsive to the communications regarding available slots, may also beable to reserve a slot that is open or available. All the vehiclesequipped with the communication link and system of the present inventionmay forward a list of open slots as well as reserved slots to provide afurther range for the communications so as to reach vehicles justentering the parking lot or the like that may be a substantial distancefrom an available slot.

The parking slot determining and reserving system of the presentinvention may provide enhanced determination and reservation of parkingslots for vehicles equipped with a communication link or the like (suchas a v2v communication link or v2x communication link or the like). Thepresent invention provides enhanced parking coordination and may providean automated and coordinated parking solution.

Optionally, the parking lot may also provide communications regardingparking slot availability. For example, and with reference to FIG. 6 ,many light posts in a parking lot are equipped with a camera that hasbetter visibility of the open slots as well as traffic moving towardsfilled slots where the parked vehicle is leaving or backing up from theslot. If the light posts were provided with a DSRC radio and the cameraoutput were fed to the DSRC radio, the radio could then transmit orcommunicate or broadcast parking slot information, which may achieve asmart parking solution. The DSRC radio located in the light post mayprocess the camera or video image data and may identify an open parkingslot and generate a communication regarding the parking slotavailability and/or update an existing list of available parking slotsand may broad cast or transmit that communication to the vehicles at theparking lot that are looking for an empty and available parking slot.

When the driver of a DSRC equipped vehicle is looking for an open slot,the open slot list transmitted by the light post DSRC radio appears atthe human machine interface or HMI (such as at a display screen or thelike in the cabin of the equipped vehicle and viewable by the driver)and the driver may reserve an open slot using the HMI. This reservationrequest is transmitted to the light post DSRC radio (or a centralizedprocessor that is linked to multiple parking lot system DSRC radios atlight posts or other structures at the parking lot), and if the systemhas not received any other vehicle request for the same slot, the systemreserves the slot and transmits the updated open slot and reserved slotlist and confirms the reservation request. Once the reservation iscomplete, the vehicle driver that was looking for the open slot andselected the slot may park his or her vehicle at the reserved slot.Optionally, because the GPS location of the light post DSRC radio may beprogrammed at the installation time, the location of the open slot withrespect to the light post location could be calculated in the light postDSRC radio and transmitted along with the open slot/reserve slot list.

The system may continuously update the parking slot availability listover time. For example, when a vehicle moves out of a parking slot, theDSRC radio at the parking lot detects this via image processing ofcaptured image data and updates the open slot list accordingly.Optionally, the parking lot DSRC radio system may also be used as across traffic alert device for vehicles that are equipped with DSRCradios or communication links or the like with no cross trafficdetection. For example, the system may detect two vehicles approachingan intersection of the parking lot or may detect a leaving vehiclebacking or driving into a path of travel of another vehicle, and maygenerate an alert to the drivers of those vehicles to warn them of apotential collision. The communication systems and parking slot findingassist system may utilize aspects of the systems described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/303,695, filed Jun. 13, 2014 andpublished Dec. 25, 2014 as U.S. Publication No. US-2014-0375476, whichis hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Optionally, the vehicle may include a cooperative lane sharing systemthat assists the driver in determining when a vehicle (such as amotorcycle or the like) is approaching from behind the equipped vehicleand in the same lane as the equipped vehicle but at a side of the laneso as to “share” the lane as traffic moves along the road. In manycountries, such lane sharing is legal to improve the efficiency of theroadway, whereby vehicles or cars and motor cycles share the same lane(in a side-by-side manner) especially during the traffic jam condition.At present, the vehicle driver looks for a motor cycle approaching (suchas at the left side of the vehicle) and makes the pathway available bymanually driving closer to the right side of the lane. This coordinationis sometimes difficult, because the driver of the subject vehicle maynot be able to see the approaching motorcycle and may want to changelanes in front of the approaching motorcycle, which may result in acollision.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 , the subject may be equipped with a DSRCradio along with a side camera or radar sensor or the like. A trafficjam assist (TJA) feature of the subject vehicle may use the informationfrom the DSRC radio about an approaching motorcycle and the vehiclesystem may automatically make a path for the approaching motorcycle byaligning the vehicle to the right lane making (virtual splitting/sharingthe lane). When the motorcycle appears in the visibility of the sidecamera/radar, the TJA algorithm may fuse the camera/radar and DSRC radiodata to get better confidence of the target (approaching motor cycle).Once the motor cycle passes by, the vehicle system may align the vehicleback to the lane center.

When the motorcycle is travelling next to the subject vehicle in theblind spot and would like to cut-in to change lane, the subject vehiclesystem may determine such a maneuver (such as responsive to detecting aturn signal activation of the motorcycle or the like) and may slow downthe subject vehicle and make way for the motor cycle lane change in acoordinated manner. Optionally, the motorcycle may also receiveinformation or data from the vehicle and that information may alert thedriver of the motorcycle if the car/vehicle ahead of the motorcycle isabout to make a lane change, whereby the motorcycle driver can beprepared to stop of slow down. The TJA system and lane sharing system ofthe present invention may utilize aspects of the systems described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/303,694, filed Jun. 13, 2014, nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,260,095, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

Optionally, a system of the present invention may function to enhanceturning by vehicles through intersections, such as when the driver of avehicle is making a left turn through an intersection. For example, inCanada it is common to have intersections with no left signal lightseven with large roads with multiple lanes. The vehicles that need tomake a left turn have to take a turn in a coordinated manner, and thismay lead to accidents as the driver of the subject vehicle may not beable to see an approaching vehicle in another lane (because the driver'sview may be blocked by another stopped vehicle in front of the subjectvehicle and trying to make a left turn in the other direction) or oftenthe driver may make mistakenly judge the speed of an approaching vehicleand try to make a left turn which may result in an accident.

This is a very common scenario for example, in Canada, even withmultiple lanes. For example, and such as shown in FIG. 9 , the subjectvehicle (SV) driver's view is blocked by a stopped vehicle (2), which istrying to turn left at the intersection. The SV driver needs tocoordinate with the target vehicle (TV), which is approaching theintersection (possibly at high speed) and the SV driver needs to make ajudgment to turn left, which may lead to an accident if the driver ofthe SV is not able to make the right decision at the right time. Thesystem of the present invention may help the SV driver to make the rightdecision as well as automatically apply braking in the event of adangerous situation (such as if the SV driver makes a poor decision toturn in front of a fast approaching target vehicle) to prevent accident.

In accordance with the present invention, and such as shown in FIGS. 9and 10 , the SV and TV are equipped with a DSRC radio, and the SV shouldbe able to receive the speed, acceleration, relative distance of the TVapproaching the intersection. Using this information, the ADAS system ofthe present invention computes the Time To Collision (TTC) and alertsthe SV driver even if the driver is not able to see the approachingvehicle (TV) ahead of and approaching the SV. If the determined orcomputed TTC exceeds a certain threshold, the ADAS system may activateautomatic braking of the SV to limit movement of the SV into the path ofthe TV and thus to limit or substantially preclude a collision with theTV.

The camera or sensor may comprise any suitable camera or sensor.Optionally, the camera may comprise a “smart camera” that includes theimaging sensor array and associated circuitry and image processingcircuitry and electrical connectors and the like as part of a cameramodule, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systems described inInternational Publication Nos. WO 2013/081984 and/or WO 2013/081985,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The system includes an image processor operable to process image datacaptured by the camera or cameras, such as for detecting objects orother vehicles or pedestrians or the like in the field of view of one ormore of the cameras. For example, the image processor may comprise anEYEQ2 or EYEQ3 image processing chip available from Mobileye VisionTechnologies Ltd. of Jerusalem, Israel, and may include object detectionsoftware (such as the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,855,755;7,720,580 and/or 7,038,577, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties), and may analyze image data to detectvehicles and/or other objects. Responsive to such image processing, andwhen an object or other vehicle is detected, the system may generate analert to the driver of the vehicle and/or may generate an overlay at thedisplayed image to highlight or enhance display of the detected objector vehicle, in order to enhance the driver's awareness of the detectedobject or vehicle or hazardous condition during a driving maneuver ofthe equipped vehicle.

The vehicle may include any type of sensor or sensors, such as imagingsensors or radar sensors or lidar sensors or ladar sensors or ultrasonicsensors or the like. The imaging sensor or camera may capture image datafor image processing and may comprise any suitable camera or sensingdevice, such as, for example, a two dimensional array of a plurality ofphotosensor elements arranged in at least 640 columns and 480 rows (atleast a 640×480 imaging array, such as a megapixel imaging array or thelike), with a respective lens focusing images onto respective portionsof the array. The photosensor array may comprise a plurality ofphotosensor elements arranged in a photosensor array having rows andcolumns. Preferably, the imaging array has at least 300,000 photosensorelements or pixels, more preferably at least 500,000 photosensorelements or pixels and more preferably at least 1 million photosensorelements or pixels. The imaging array may capture color image data, suchas via spectral filtering at the array, such as via an RGB (red, greenand blue) filter or via a red/red complement filter or such as via anRCC (red, clear, clear) filter or the like. The logic and controlcircuit of the imaging sensor may function in any known manner, and theimage processing and algorithmic processing may comprise any suitablemeans for processing the images and/or image data.

For example, the vision system and/or processing and/or camera and/orcircuitry may utilize aspects described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,005,974;5,760,962; 5,877,897; 5,796,094; 5,949,331; 6,222,447; 6,302,545;6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202; 6,201,642; 6,690,268;6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452; 6,822,563; 6,891,563;6,946,978; 7,859,565; 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 6,636,258; 7,145,519;7,161,616; 7,230,640; 7,248,283; 7,295,229; 7,301,466; 7,592,928;7,881,496; 7,720,580; 7,038,577; 6,882,287; 5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772,and/or International Publication Nos. WO 2011/028686; WO 2010/099416; WO2012/061567; WO 2012/068331; WO 2012/075250; WO 2012/103193; WO2012/0116043; WO 2012/0145313; WO 2012/0145501; WO 2012/145818; WO2012/145822; WO 2012/158167; WO 2012/075250; WO 2012/0116043; WO2012/0145501; WO 2012/154919; WO 2013/019707; WO 2013/016409; WO2013/019795; WO 2013/067083; WO 2013/070539; WO 2013/043661; WO2013/048994; WO 2013/063014, WO 2013/081984; WO 2013/081985; WO2013/074604; WO 2013/086249; WO 2013/103548; WO 2013/109869; WO2013/123161; WO 2013/126715; WO 2013/043661 and/or WO 2013/158592, whichare all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Thesystem may communicate with other communication systems via any suitablemeans, such as by utilizing aspects of the systems described inInternational Publication Nos. WO/2010/144900; WO 2013/043661 and/or WO2013/081985, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/202,005, filedAug. 17, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,126,525, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The imaging device and control and image processor and any associatedillumination source, if applicable, may comprise any suitablecomponents, and may utilize aspects of the cameras and vision systemsdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,877,897; 6,498,620; 5,670,935;5,796,094; 6,396,397; 6,806,452; 6,690,268; 7,005,974; 7,937,667;7,123,168; 7,004,606; 6,946,978; 7,038,577; 6,353,392; 6,320,176;6,313,454 and/or 6,824,281, and/or International Publication Nos. WO2010/099416; WO 2011/028686 and/or WO 2013/016409, and/or U.S. Pat.Publication No. US 2010-0020170, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/534,657, filed Jun. 27, 2012 and published Jan. 3, 2013 as U.S.Publication No. US-2013-0002873, which are all hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. The camera or cameras maycomprise any suitable cameras or imaging sensors or camera modules, andmay utilize aspects of the cameras or sensors described in U.S.Publication No. US-2009-0244361 and/or U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,542,451;7,965,336 and/or 7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties. The imaging array sensor may comprise anysuitable sensor, and may utilize various imaging sensors or imagingarray sensors or cameras or the like, such as a CMOS imaging arraysensor, a CCD sensor or other sensors or the like, such as the typesdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,760,962; 5,715,093;5,877,897; 6,922,292; 6,757,109; 6,717,610; 6,590,719; 6,201,642;6,498,620; 5,796,094; 6,097,023; 6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261;6,806,452; 6,396,397; 6,822,563; 6,946,978; 7,339,149; 7,038,577;7,004,606; 7,720,580 and/or 7,965,336, and/or International PublicationNos. WO 2009/036176 and/or WO 2009/046268, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The camera module and circuit chip or board and imaging sensor may beimplemented and operated in connection with various vehicularvision-based systems, and/or may be operable utilizing the principles ofsuch other vehicular systems, such as a vehicle headlamp control system,such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094; 6,097,023;6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 7,004,606; 7,339,149 and/or 7,526,103,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a rain sensor, such as the types disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,353,392; 6,313,454; 6,320,176 and/or7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a vehicle vision system, such as a forwardly, sidewardly orrearwardly directed vehicle vision system utilizing principles disclosedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 5,949,331;6,222,447; 6,302,545; 6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202;6,201,642; 6,690,268; 6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452;6,822,563; 6,891,563; 6,946,978 and/or 7,859,565, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a trailer hitchingaid or tow check system, such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.7,005,974, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, a reverse or sideward imaging system, such as for a lanechange assistance system or lane departure warning system or for a blindspot or object detection system, such as imaging or detection systems ofthe types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,881,496; 7,720,580; 7,038,577;5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, a video device for internal cabinsurveillance and/or video telephone function, such as disclosed in U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 6,690,268 and/or 7,370,983, and/or U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0050018, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, a traffic sign recognition system, asystem for determining a distance to a leading or trailing vehicle orobject, such as a system utilizing the principles disclosed in U.S. Pat.Nos. 6,396,397 and/or 7,123,168, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, and/or the like.

Optionally, the circuit board or chip may include circuitry for theimaging array sensor and or other electronic accessories or features,such as by utilizing compass-on-a-chip or EC driver-on-a-chip technologyand aspects such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,255,451 and/or7,480,149 and/or U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0061008 and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/578,732, filed Oct. 14, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No.9,487,144, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

Optionally, the vision system may include a display for displayingimages captured by one or more of the imaging sensors for viewing by thedriver of the vehicle while the driver is normally operating thevehicle. Optionally, for example, the vision system may include a videodisplay device disposed at or in the interior rearview mirror assemblyof the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the video mirror displaysystems described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268 and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/333,337, filed Dec. 21, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No.9,264,672, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. The video mirror display may comprise any suitable devicesand systems and optionally may utilize aspects of the compass displaysystems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,370,983; 7,329,013; 7,308,341;7,289,037; 7,249,860; 7,004,593; 4,546,551; 5,699,044; 4,953,305;5,576,687; 5,632,092; 5,677,851; 5,708,410; 5,737,226; 5,802,727;5,878,370; 6,087,953; 6,173,508; 6,222,460; 6,513,252 and/or 6,642,851,and/or European patent application, published Oct. 11, 2000 underPublication No. EP 0 1043566, and/or U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008, which are all hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties. Optionally, the video mirror display screen ordevice may be operable to display images captured by a rearward viewingcamera of the vehicle during a reversing maneuver of the vehicle (suchas responsive to the vehicle gear actuator being placed in a reversegear position or the like) to assist the driver in backing up thevehicle, and optionally may be operable to display the compass headingor directional heading character or icon when the vehicle is notundertaking a reversing maneuver, such as when the vehicle is beingdriven in a forward direction along a road (such as by utilizing aspectsof the display system described in International Publication No. WO2012/051500, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety).

Optionally, the vision system (utilizing the forward facing camera and arearward facing camera and other cameras disposed at the vehicle withexterior fields of view) may be part of or may provide a display of atop-down view or birds-eye view system of the vehicle or a surround viewat the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systemsdescribed International Publication Nos. WO 2010/099416; WO 2011/028686;WO 2012/075250; WO 2013/019795; WO 2012-075250; WO 2012/145822; WO2013/081985; WO 2013/086249 and/or WO 2013/109869, and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/333,337, filed Dec. 21, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No.9,264,672, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

Optionally, a video mirror display may be disposed rearward of andbehind the reflective element assembly and may comprise a display suchas the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,240; 6,329,925;7,855,755; 7,626,749; 7,581,859; 7,446,650; 7,370,983; 7,338,177;7,274,501; 7,255,451; 7,195,381; 7,184,190; 5,668,663; 5,724,187 and/or6,690,268, and/or in U.S. Publication Nos. US-2006-0061008 and/orUS-2006-0050018, which are all hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties. The display is viewable through the reflectiveelement when the display is activated to display information. Thedisplay element may be any type of display element, such as a vacuumfluorescent (VF) display element, a light emitting diode (LED) displayelement, such as an organic light emitting diode (OLED) or an inorganiclight emitting diode, an electroluminescent (EL) display element, aliquid crystal display (LCD) element, a video screen display element orbacklit thin film transistor (TFT) display element or the like, and maybe operable to display various information (as discrete characters,icons or the like, or in a multi-pixel manner) to the driver of thevehicle, such as passenger side inflatable restraint (PSIR) information,tire pressure status, and/or the like. The mirror assembly and/ordisplay may utilize aspects described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,184,190;7,255,451; 7,446,924 and/or 7,338,177, which are all hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. The thicknesses and materialsof the coatings on the substrates of the reflective element may beselected to provide a desired color or tint to the mirror reflectiveelement, such as a blue colored reflector, such as is known in the artand such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,910,854; 6,420,036 and/or7,274,501, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

Optionally, the display or displays and any associated user inputs maybe associated with various accessories or systems, such as, for example,a tire pressure monitoring system or a passenger air bag status or agarage door opening system or a telematics system or any other accessoryor system of the mirror assembly or of the vehicle or of an accessorymodule or console of the vehicle, such as an accessory module or consoleof the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,289,037; 6,877,888;6,824,281; 6,690,268; 6,672,744; 6,386,742 and 6,124,886, and/or U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0050018, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments canbe carried out without departing from the principles of the invention,which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appendedclaims, as interpreted according to the principles of patent lawincluding the doctrine of equivalents.

1. A vehicular parking system, the vehicular parking system comprising:a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system disposed at a firstvehicle; wherein the vehicular parking system, as the first vehiclenavigates a parking facility in search of an available parking space,receives a parking space availability communication via the V2Vcommunication system; wherein the parking space availabilitycommunication originates from a second vehicle that is also navigatingthe parking facility, and wherein the parking space availabilitycommunication indicates multiple available parking spaces within theparking facility, and wherein the multiple available parking spaces aredetermined by the second vehicle as the second vehicle navigates theparking facility and passes available parking spaces; and wherein thevehicular parking system, responsive to receiving the parking spaceavailability communication, reserves one of the multiple availableparking spaces of the parking space availability communication for thefirst vehicle.
 2. The vehicular parking system of claim 1, wherein thevehicular parking system, responsive to receiving the parking spaceavailability communication, forwards the parking space availabilitycommunication to a third vehicle that is different than the secondvehicle.
 3. The vehicular parking system of claim 1, wherein the V2Vcommunication system comprises a designated short range communication(DSRC) radio.
 4. The vehicular parking system of claim 1, wherein thevehicular parking system reserves the one of the multiple availableparking spaces of the parking space availability communicationresponsive to selection of the one of the multiple available parkingspaces of the parking space availability communication by a driver ofthe first vehicle.
 5. The vehicular parking system of claim 1, whereinthe vehicular parking system, responsive to reserving the one of themultiple available parking spaces of the parking space availabilitycommunication, communicates, using the V2V communication system, thereservation of the one of the multiple available parking spaces of theparking space availability communication.
 6. The vehicular parkingsystem of claim 5, wherein the vehicular parking system communicates thereservation of the one of the multiple available parking spaces of theparking space availability communication to a third vehicle that isdifferent than the second vehicle.
 7. The vehicular parking system ofclaim 1, wherein the vehicular parking system, when reserving the one ofthe multiple available parking spaces of the parking space availabilitycommunication, continuously transmits a reserve request after a randomtime interval until the one of the multiple available parking spaces ofthe parking space availability communication is reserved.
 8. Thevehicular parking system of claim 1, wherein the second vehicledetermines the multiple available parking spaces responsive toprocessing of image data captured by a camera disposed at the secondvehicle.
 9. The vehicular parking system of claim 1, wherein the secondvehicle determines the multiple available parking spaces responsive toprocessing of sensor data captured by an ultrasonic sensor disposed atthe second vehicle.
 10. The vehicular parking system of claim 1, whereinthe parking space availability communication comprises a location ofeach available parking space of the multiple available parking spaces ofthe parking space availability communication.
 11. A vehicular parkingsystem, the vehicular parking system comprising: a vehicle-to-vehicle(V2V) communication system disposed at a first vehicle; wherein thevehicular parking system, as the first vehicle navigates a parkingfacility in search of an available parking space, receives a parkingspace availability communication via the V2V communication system;wherein the parking space availability communication originates from asecond vehicle that is also navigating the parking facility, and whereinthe parking space availability communication indicates multipleavailable parking spaces within the parking facility, and wherein themultiple available parking spaces are determined by the second vehicleas the second vehicle navigates the parking facility and passesavailable parking spaces; wherein the vehicular parking system,responsive to receiving the parking space availability communication,reserves one of the multiple available parking spaces of the parkingspace availability communication for the first vehicle; wherein thevehicular parking system, responsive to receiving the parking spaceavailability communication, using the V2V communication system, forwardsthe parking space availability communication to a third vehicle that isdifferent than the second vehicle; and wherein the vehicular parkingsystem, using the V2V communication system, communicates the reservationof the one of the multiple available parking spaces of the parking spaceavailability communication to the third vehicle.
 12. The vehicularparking system of claim 11, wherein the V2V communication systemcomprises a designated short range communication (DSRC) radio.
 13. Thevehicular parking system of claim 11, wherein the vehicular parkingsystem reserves the one of the multiple available parking spaces of theparking space availability communication responsive to selection of theone of the multiple available parking spaces of the parking spaceavailability communication by a driver of the first vehicle.
 14. Thevehicular parking system of claim 11, wherein the vehicular parkingsystem, when reserving the one of the multiple available parking spacesof the parking space availability communication, continuously transmitsa reserve request after a random time interval until the one of themultiple available parking spaces of the parking space availabilitycommunication is reserved.
 15. The vehicular parking system of claim 11,wherein the second vehicle determines the multiple available parkingspaces responsive to processing of image data captured by a cameradisposed at the second vehicle.
 16. The vehicular parking system ofclaim 11, wherein the second vehicle determines the multiple availableparking spaces responsive to processing of sensor data captured by anultrasonic sensor disposed at the second vehicle.
 17. A vehicularparking system, the vehicular parking system comprising: avehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system disposed at a firstvehicle; wherein the vehicular parking system, as the first vehiclenavigates a parking facility in search of an available parking space,receives a parking space availability communication via the V2Vcommunication system; wherein the parking space availabilitycommunication originates from a second vehicle that is also navigatingthe parking facility, and wherein the parking space availabilitycommunication indicates multiple available parking spaces within theparking facility, and wherein the parking space availabilitycommunication comprises a location of each available parking space ofthe multiple available parking spaces of the parking space availabilitycommunication, and wherein the multiple available parking spaces aredetermined by the second vehicle as the second vehicle navigates theparking facility and passes available parking spaces, and wherein thesecond vehicle determines the multiple available parking spacesresponsive to processing of image data captured by a camera disposed atthe second vehicle; and wherein the vehicular parking system, responsiveto receiving the parking space availability communication, reserves oneof the multiple available parking spaces of the parking spaceavailability communication for the first vehicle.
 18. The vehicularparking system of claim 17, wherein the vehicular parking system,responsive to receiving the parking space availability communication,forwards the parking space availability communication to a third vehiclethat is different than the second vehicle.
 19. The vehicular parkingsystem of claim 17, wherein the V2V communication system comprises adesignated short range communication (DSRC) radio.
 20. The vehicularparking system of claim 17, wherein the vehicular parking systemreserves the one of the multiple available parking spaces of the parkingspace availability communication responsive to selection of the one ofthe multiple available parking spaces of the parking space availabilitycommunication by a driver of the first vehicle.